Pretty simple, yes or no. Is there supposed to be a bracket (mount) under the transfer case on a 4X4?

 

There's not one on mine. Maybe if you get skid plates it has one?

 

Thanks for the reply. Does your case bounce (do you hear a noise) when you go over a bump or anything like that?

 

Just swapped out my transmission last weekend. It amazed me the transfer case bolted directly to the transmission using 6 bolts and no other support. I would have thought some type of support bracket would be installed on the aft end of the transfer case to support ( stabilize ) the weight. There is a skid plate under the transfer case but it does nothing to help support the weight.

Mark

 

I don't even have a skid plate. Must be a Ford option. One of the guys that works for me has a chebby, he has a skid plate under his transfer case and front differential. Has no bracket holding his either. His explination is that it has to be able to flex and move under off road conditions and has to move with the trans under torque, that if it were bolted down independant from the trans, that the housing would break. I hate to say it but from a chebby guy, it makes some sence.

 

no

 

form day one transfer cases have always hung free except on afew that had a pipe or bolt brace. we run alot of 6 &7 hundred hp race jeeps and their transfer cases just hang . if it was true that they needed to flex or move you would be tearing the mounting bolts out. if you watch under your truck as some one moves it the motor tranny and transfer case all move cause there are only three mounts holding the whole unit in.

 

I wondered why you were asking about this!

Every manufacturer mounts their trans-cases that way as far as I know. Ford, Chevy and Dodge all offer skid plates as options or parts of "off-road" packages.

I don't see much practical need for skid plates on 4wd Superduties since their high chassis clearance makes it pretty hard to hit anything vital under normal offroad use (at least the way I use mine). GM's new pickups probably benefit from skid plates alot more becuase the frame sits so much lower. GM also can put a skid plate under the front diff because of their IFS.

I have a guy at a local junkyard keeping his eyes out for a set of used skid plates though-if I can get a set cheap I wouldn't mind having them. My truck didn't have them when I bought it and it costs over $300 to buy a new set.

 

My reason for asking was, that a so called "mechanic" was giving me "the sky is falling" hysteria when he looked under my truck and saw the transfer case hanging out in the open, held by only a few bolts to the trans. He was telling me that I had better be carefull, that thing could just fall off!

I actually thought it was kind of funny when he told me that, it has grown to full blown hilarious now. I thought it even funnier this morning when I locked the hubs, put it in 4L, shifted into grunt low and climbed a rock and log infested 60 degree hill that ran about 7/8 of a mile. Came back down and my transfer case was still attached.

 

He wasn't a Dodge owner by chance, was he? Dodge guys are generally paranoid about parts falling off their trucks and they sometimes forget it doesn't apply to Ford pickups!

 

No, unfortunately, he drives a Ford F150. I have learned over the years to take his advice with a grain of salt. This is the same guy that last year, when I first thought about buying a new truck, strongly suggested I stay away from a diesel. Now, all the guy can do is talk about the F350 dually DIESEL that he wants to buy. Everytime he and I talk, his wife chimes in about her love of "chivies." Her husband is not the smartest guy but at least he refuses to drive a "chivie." I would love to be with them when they truck shop. Just to hear them tell the salesmen that the brackets are all missing off the trucks.